Teach Your Children Swimming

As a parent, losing a child can really be heartbreaking. Whatmore when your child is at his prime age, still growing up. I wonder how the parents of those schoolboys feel when they know that they will never see their children ever again. I can only imagine their pain since I never experience anything like that. I hope I never will.

The issue here is that how can a club recruits a member who cannot even swim? Swimming must be a prerequisite for anybody who wants to join any clubs or activities that require them to be near or in any body of water. For that reason alone, anyone who cannot swim will not be accepted as a member. We can never know when accidents happen, we can only prevent them or at least minimise any harm should an accident happens.

My daughter Nadia can swim pretty well. But she will not swim in the sea for simple reason that she cannot predict the undercurrents. A strong swimmer will have a difficult time facing a strong undercurrents. So what are the chances when we cannot even swim. I remember clearly the advice given by our prophet(pbuh)... Teach your children swimming and archery. The desert has no large pools of water and yet we were asked to learn to swim (at that time). But nowadays people builds swimming pools everywhere, there are cruise ships and not to mention the flood.

I sent all my children for swimming lessons. Only Imran is still struggling with swimming. I try to make them practice twice a week. The irony is my husband and I cannot swim at all, but we know the importance of swimming. I'm still searching for a lady coach who can teach me during the weekdays. As for my husband I do not think he will ever swim since he will never have the courage to flaunt his body in a swimming trunk...

Rain Rain Go Away

My husband and I seldom go to the night market. I especially do not like crowded places and therefore seldom found myself at these night markets. But yesterday, we decided to go to this pasar malam in order to buy some apam balik. My children love apam balik. After parking the car, we started walking through the market and suddenly it started to rain. No it was pouring to be exact.

I have no choice but to take shelter under one of the traders' flimsy do-it-yourself tent. The owner was kind enough to let us in, so to say. All the traders started to cover their wares with sheets of plastic, but those who sell foodstuff were quite unlucky. Some of the food were soaked wet. Children of the traders started to cry since they were hoarded into the vans without their parents. Everything and everybody were soaking wet except for us. The traders were praying out loud so that the rain will stop.

To me, the rain means that I do not have to water my plants, I will not be stuck with hot humid weather and definitely I can sleep better at night. But to these group of people, it means there will be no income to support their family, to put food on their tables. But during the half hour that I was there, they never complained about the rain, they only pray that it will stop.

So the rain stopped not exactly stop but light enough for me and my husband to walk away from our shelter to go and buy the apam balik for our children.

A Happy New Year

It's that time of the year again. Time to make new resolutions and unfortunately break them time and time again. It has been a long time since I made any new year resolutions. I can only stick them for a very short period of time. So this year, instead of making new ones, I decided to make some wishes instead.

I wish that this new year and always will be filled with so much happiness. I wish to lose the extra pounds that I have and keep them away at all times. I wish my children will pass all their examinations with flying colours and I wish that they will have the will to study hard in order to do that. I wish to become a better person, a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter, sister, aunt and friend to my husband, children, father, nieces and nephews and also to my dearest friends. I wish to understand the Quran by the reading it more often[ that includes the translations too]. I wish to be a better muslim and be kind to everyone.

Above all, I wish Allah granted me the will power to be all the above. Without it, all the wishes will be just that..nothing more.

Happy New Year everyone